


Holding me close until our eyes meet.

by laura_sommeils



Category: In Other Lands | The Turn of the Story - Sarah Rees Brennan
Genre: Also fluff, Florcha made me do it, M/M, This is a little after the book finished so! established relationship i guess, i love them so much help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27091864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laura_sommeils/pseuds/laura_sommeils
Summary: He limits himself to grab Luke’s hands and place them against each side of his waist, their hips touching and Luke’s exhale against Elliot’s ear sending shivers through his body. “Dance with me, looser”, he whispers, and sings a ballad from a faraway land that was never a home. A promise of mornings and warm beds, a hymn to the feelings that he is trying to be ready to recognize as his own.
Relationships: Elliot Schafer/Luke Sunborn
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	Holding me close until our eyes meet.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Unaflor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unaflor/gifts).



> I love them and this is Florcha's fault because she was like "JUST WRITE ABOUT THEM" and I was like "oh, OH". So this is dedicated to you, I'd give you the entire world and I'm still elated af that you read the book and screamed about them with me.

Elliot has a mental list of the things that he wants to say to Luke, someday:

  * Sometimes I’m afraid you’ll leave. Or you’ll be taken. I don’t know what is worse: you leaving or you not being able to come back. I think it is the later, but I try not to be afraid of the possibilities.
  * I like it when you tease me and say jerk stuff, the stuff nobody thinks you’re capable of saying, but that you feel comfortable enough to show me.
  * With you I’ve finally found out that running is also pacing yourself and not being afraid if you stumble.
  * I love you.
  * Will you always love me back?



He has a list, but he is learning the tools to make it a reality: vulnerability, trust and understanding. It piles up over time, years in which he expected the worst from Luke but received a cozy space to feel safe. Somebody waiting for him, a person to return to. An un-friendship that became a pillar, a resting place, a path that turned into a home. 

And at times it’s overwhelming, the heat of Luke’s eyes when they’re on a mission and he warns Elliot not to stray far away from him to search for another magical creature to make friends with. Or how Elliot has to fight all the people who want to reduce Luke into the symbol of what a Sunborn is and not what his boyfriend contains. The occasions in which he says “enough”, in which his actions scream “you’ve used us enough, and I will help him not to give so many pieces of himself to you”. Because Luke understands duty, and is noble and will give so much of himself if it means somebody else won’t have to do so, and Elliot has to be selfish enough for the both of them. 

So he has a list, he always has lists, and plans, and dreams and hopes. He really shouldn’t at this point, because life isn’t always fair and at times people leave. But, he’s learned, years of mistakes and misplaced trust but earned beginnings, sometimes they also come back. They have to come back, because Elliot can’t be Elliot without them. He has attempted to, since there’s shaky ground in bonds, but trying was painful and tiring and only hurt him further. So he chooses to stay, and fight for what and whom he wants. 

So when Luke returns to the fort after helping to train the new soldiers, aching joints and rosy cheeks, Elliot presses a kiss against his boyfriend’s forehead. His hands are dirty from the sword's handle and there’s a scratch in one of his forearms, little details that tell him about how the afternoon has gone. A language that Elliot has spent years learning without intention, but that he is well versed in it by now. 

He limits himself to grab Luke’s hands and place them against each side of his waist, their hips touching and Luke’s exhale against Elliot’s ear sending shivers through his body. “Dance with me, looser”, he whispers, and sings a ballad from a faraway land that was never a home. A promise of mornings and warm beds, a hymn to the feelings that he is trying to be ready to recognize as his own.

And it is in this room, pots of ink and straps of leather, golden feathers falling to the ground when Luke’s wings arch against Elliot’s spine, that they find their way to each other. 

It is messy and terrible and them. Chapped lips and rough hands that try to caress worn skin. Bumps of scar tissue and a feathering of freckles. A smile that is a question and a smirk that is an answer. 

They’re years apart from where they began, blood and ink and miscommunication. Thwarted attempts at romance. A promise of something he didn’t want to see for the longest time.

Elliot has a mental list of the things that he wants to say to Luke, some of them, he’ll just show to him for now.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Ed Sheeran's "Photograph", because I hate choosing titles. Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
